Vertically adjustable wheeled supporting frame for cabinets and the like



Feb. 26, 1957 c D 1 2,783,055 VERTICA -LY ADJUSTABLE WHEEL-ED SUPPQRTING FRAME FOR CABINETS AND THE LIKE Filed March 8, 1954 6 /i\ 7 x I 75 I5 4 i FIG.4. I I 14 f1 Q I INVENTOR AT TORNEY United States atent 2,783,055 Ratented Feb. 26, 1957 ice VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE WHEELED SUPPORT- ING FRAME FOR CABINETS AND THE LIKE This invention relates to supporting means for washlog machines, dryers, television sets or other relatively heavy apparatus or appliances,-and by means of which the cabinet or housing of such apparatusrnay be either firmly and immovably supported, or else supported on wheels or casters by means" of which it'may be easily moved from place to place.

Washing machines, dryers and other apparatus must, for best resultswhile in use, be supported firmly and immovably, and therefore such apparatus is customarily supported onua :base or-on'feet'resting on the floor or else rested upon legs which are supported-on-the floor or other surface. Therefore,when it is desired to move such a device fromone location to another, the moving operation is difficult and cannot usually be conveniently done by the householder. The same is true of heavy television sets, refrigerators and many other cabinet-contained appliances.

It is therefore one of the objects of the present invention to provide asupporting means for appliances of the above-mentioned character which supporting means will enable the-appliance to firmly andlevelly rest upon supporting legs or feet yet will permit of a change from supporting feet to wheeled elements, such as casters, by simple lever movement.

It is an object of the invention to provide a supporting chassis for an appliance or apparatus which will enable the appliance to be selectively rested upon supporting feet or else supported on wheels or casters so that when rested on the wheels or casters the appliance may be readily and easily moved from one position to another.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a chassis constructed as above pointed out and which can be attached to the cabinet or housing of the washing machine or other appliance without requiring material alteration in such appliance.

With these and other objects to be hereinafter set forth in view, I have devised the arrangement of parts to be described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto, 5

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown,

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of the improved supporting means as applied to a washing machine or other apparatus, and showing the supporting means in the posi- 60 tion in which the washing machine is rested upon its feet;

Fig. 2 is a similar view, showing how the feet are elevated and the machine is supported on wheels or casters; 65

Fig. 3 is a view looking at the bottom of the washing machine cabinet and showing the supporting means applied thereto;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 44 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 5--5 of Fig. 1,- looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates generally the housing or cabinet of a washing machine, dryer, television set or other housing to which the supporting chassis is to be applied. -At 2 is shown the bottom or base portion of the cabinet, and the same is apertured at four suitable positioned points to receive the threaded shanks 3 of the four legs 4 which normally act to firmly-and immovably'support the cabinet when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1 and the legs are resting upon thefloor 5 or other supporting surface.

The nuts 6 in co-operation with the heads 7 on the shanks 3, permit the legs to be independently adjusted so that when the machine is resting upon them, a perfectly level support for the appliance will be assured. Extending through one pair of the legs 4 is anaxle 8 which is freely rotative in the legs in whichit is mounted. Secured to the axle 8 are two caster forks indicated at 9 and 16, each of which carries a caster wheel or roller 11. The rollers are thus disposed eccentrically in respect to the axle 8 to which the fork 9 and 10 are attached.

Extending through the second pair of legs 4 is the second axle 14 towhich is attached the caster forks indicated at 12 and 13, and each of the forks carries a caster wheel or roller 15 .eccentrically disposed in respect to axle 14. The axle 14 is pivotal in the two legs 4 through which it extends. Secured on one end of the, axle 14 is an upwardly-directed hand-operated lever 16, and adjacent to the lower end of the same is pivotally attached one end of a link or rod 17 which has its opposite end pivotally attached to the upper end portion of a short lever 18 secured to the end of the axle 8. Levers 16' and 18 may be respectively attached to the axles 14 and 8 by having square or non-round openings in said levers fitted on square or non-round ends on the axles.

A stop bracket is provided for the lever 16 and the same consists of a substantially rectangular frame 19 secured by self-tapping screws 20 or similar fastening elements to the outer face of one wall of the cabinet of the washing machine or other appliance. The levers and stop bracket are usually located on or at the back wall of the cabinet and thus normally concealed from View. The end walls 21 and 22 of the bracket 19 serve as stops to limit the swing of the lever 16 in both directions. Mounted on the inner side of the front wall 23 of the stop bracket 19 is a catch member consisting of a headed stud 24 located adjacent to the end wall 21 of the stop bracket. When the lever is in its rearward or retracted position, as seen in Fig. 2, and at which time the caster Wheels 11 and llfi are elevated, the lever 16 is positioned behind the stud 24, as shown in Fig. 5, and will be retained in such position by the head on the stud, until it is manually disengaged when it is desired to lower the caster wheels to support the appliance upon the same.

From the foregoing, the operation of the device will be readily understood. In Fig. l the device is shown in the position which it occupies when the washing machine or other appliance to which it is fitted is ready for normal operation. At this time, it will be observed that the lever 16 is positioned at the end of its forward swing and is located against and in contact with the wall 22 of the stop bracket 19. Also at this time, through the link connection 1'7 between the two levers 16 and 18, the short lever 18 is positioned at the end of its forward swing, and both pairs of wheels or rollers 11 and 15 are in elevated position and clear of the floor 5 so that the appliance is then resting solely and firmly upon its four legs 4. Thus, while the machine is in operation it will be maintained immovably on the supporting legs 4. When it is desired to move the appliance, the wheels 3 11 and 15 are brought down to rest on the floor, and the appliance is elevated or raised and no longer supported on the legs. This is done by moving the lever 16 to the left as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2, until the lever 16 can be moved into locked position behind the catch member or pin 24 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5. The rearward swing of lever 16 will cause a similar swing of the short lever 18 and also cause a rocking movement of both the axles 8 and 14 to thereby bring the wheels 11 and 15 against the floor and raise the cabinet and its attached legs 4 from off the floor to allow the cabinet to then be solely supported on the four wheels. While so supported, the cabinet may be freely rolled about on its wheels from one position to another and lowered and brought to rest on its legs at any location whenever desired by merely swinging the lever 16 to the position shown in Fig. 1. p

The device may be very easily attached to a cabinet or casing of any kind and preferably with the levers and link at the rear thereof and the transition from legsupport to wheel-support accomplished by simple lever movement just described.

Having described one embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, "but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claims.

What I claim is:

l. A supporting structure for cabinets comprising a plurality of separate supporting legs attached to the cabinet'with the respective legs substantially at the corners thereof and by which the cabinet is normally rested on and elevated from a supporting surface, swinging axles at the underside of the cabinet, journaled in said legs below the cabinet, wheels eccentrically carried on said axles, levers fixed to the axles at one side of the cabinet for swinging the axles and resultantly raising or lowering the wheels to or from cabinet-supporting position, a link extending between and connecting the levers and transmitting the movement of one of the levers to the other lever, one of the levers being longer than the 4 other lever and constituting a hand lever, and means for locking said hand lever against swinging movement when the wheels are in a lowered position.

2. A supporting structure for cabinets comprising, two pairs of supporting legs on the bottom of the cabinet, an axle pivotally extending through one pair of said legs and extending beyond one side of the cabinet, an axle pivotally extending through the second pair of said legs and also extending beyond the same side of the cabinet, one axle being fitted at its end beyond the side of the cabinet with hand lever, the second axle being fitted at its end beyond the side of the cabinet with a shorter lever, a linl; extending along the outer side of the cabinet between the levers and causing both lovers to be swung when one of them is manually pivoted, wheels carried by both axles, a guide for the hand lever on said side of the cabinet, means on said guide for limiting the swing of said hand lever, and locking means for preventing the swing of said hand lever in one direction.

3. A supporting structure for cabinets as provided for in claim 2, wherein the means on the guide for limiting the swing of the hand lever consists in end walls at the opposite ends of the guide and the locking means consists of a stud located within the guide and behind which the hand lever is positioned when said lever is at the limit of its swing to locate the wheels in lowered position to raise the cabinet from off its supporting feet.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 146,997 Eddy Feb. 3, 1874 177,719 Howe May 23, 1876 1,355,173 Shadel Oct. 12, 1920 1,667,267 Pitcher Apr. 24, 1928 1,812,890 McWhorter July 7, 193i 1,973,372 Clapp Sept. 11, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS 827,158 Germany Jan. 7, 1952 

